


Light Moments

by imgilmoregirl



Series: Dynasty [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Flickets, Fluff, Mentions to previous miscarriage, The Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-02-08 19:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12871527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imgilmoregirl/pseuds/imgilmoregirl
Summary: A collection of short fluffy flickets about Rumbelle's family in the Dark Castle.





	1. Her First Word

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters and storylines in the show. This is just a fanwork made for fun.
> 
> These flickets are set between the end of The Dark Lady and the beginning of The Dark Children. You don't strictly need to have read those two fics for most of them to make sense, but there are references from both works here all around. I've posted them on tumblr a while ago, they've been rewritten and edited, so if you have happened to read them there when I first posted them, it may sound a little familiar.  
> I have some of these flickets written, but I'm taking prompts, if you have one for me. I'm always happy to fill them.  
> Well, I hope you all enjoy it, as always. Thank you for reading.

The soft low noise of the spinning wheel filled the dining hall alongside with the giggles of the baby girl in Belle's arms. She was sat on the chaise cradling an eleven-month-old Rose gently, with Gideon by her side, playing with her, swinging his stuffed teddy bear in front of her face for her chubby fingers to try reaching it.

Small soft auburn curls started to frame her face some months earlier, her brown eyes grew intelligent and more aware of every detail they could catch, just as her babbling became more constant. The Dark Lady read for her very often, emphasizing the words in an attempt to turn her baby mumbling into something intelligible, trying to convince little Rose so say little things like “mama” or “papa”, but most of the time all she could get from her was a bunch of giggles and some monosyllabic sounds.

Mrs. Potts had also been a great enthusiastic when it came of trying to teach the youngest member of the family to talk, just like Rumple and even Gideon, however Rose was all about unexpected moments. Just like her mama, she was the only one who decided when was the right time to do something. So, when her brother pulled the bear away from her for what must have been the tenth time that day, she furrowed, stretching her little arms in his direction with that distressed look in her eyes which indicated that if she didn’t get what she wanted soon, she was going to start screaming, but what slipped through her mouth, was something way more delighting than a whine.

"Gigi!"

Rumplestiltskin stopped his work at the wheel and looked directly at the place where his family was nestled together, with wide eyes, a smile stretching on his lips. The imp wasn’t sure if he had heard it right, however his ears most never wronged themselves and that new voice in the hall, was something so beautiful and sweet that could have only come from this tiny special being he loved so very much.

"Her first word," the Dark One contemplated.

Belle squealed happily, kissing Rose's cheek repeatedly and hugging her tight.

"Oh, baby, this is sweet."

"Gigi," Rose repeated, pointing at her brother.

A frown formed on Gideon's face. He didn't understand why his father was standing up and coming to join his mother in spoiling Rose, because of this stupid word, as it sounded terribly silly to him.

"This is not my name," he protested. "Gigi is not even a boy's name!"

"Darling, she doesn't know how to speak Gideon yet, but she is trying." Belle explained touching his cheek. "You should feel special, because out of every first word your little sister could have chosen to speak, she called you."

His brown eyes fixed on Rose's ones, and a small smile took him as he heard how she kept babbling the same word over and over again. He needed to admit she was very cute and the babyish way she kept doing everything was just too adorable to be ignored, which was probably why his father was looking astonished at her as he picked Rose from his mother’s arms, mumbling joyful words to her.

Belle also appeared to be very proud and he wondered if they were that happy when he spoke his first word too, but knowing his parents, Gideon was pretty sure that they were probably as happier as they were now when it was him, learning those small things. He offered the bear to Rose and the baby girl lifted it to her mouth sucking at its stuffed ear, leaving it soaked with saliva. A grimace appeared in the boy’s face, as he thought it probably wouldn’t be wise to hold the bear again before someone washed it for him, but Gideon couldn’t help feeling happy with the scene in front of him.

Moving the little girl to only one arm, Rumplestiltskin brushed his son’s hair away from his face, smiling at him as his wife leaned her head against his chest.

"Are you feeling special now, my boy?" He asked.

"I do." Gideon admitted.


	2. A Tiresome Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumple and Belle deal with Rose's visions.

Belle never complained. She spent nights awake with a scared Rose completely terrified of closing her eyes and having another vision, she taught Gideon new maths during the day and very rarely accepted anyone's help when it came from the care of her children. Rumplestiltskin stood by her all the time, but he still needed to make his deals, and she was still left alone at some point, struggling to do everything that was needed while, having to soothe her children from time to time, dealing with whines, fears and visions. Motherhood was way more difficult than she ever thought it could be, however it didn’t mean Belle ever regretted it, she was just slowly getting so very exhausted, it actually seemed things were never going to get better.

It was on an especially hard night that Rumplestiltskin decided that it was time to find a way to give her some rest. He arrived at the Dark Castle late night, took off his leather coat and headed to the staircase that led to the family chambers, when he saw Mrs. Potts coming down with a tray of tea on her hands, apparently going back to the kitchen.

"What are you doing up?" He asked with narrowed eyebrows.

"Oh, it's Rose, master. Her visions are really bad today."

His eyes closed momentarily as nodded, already imagining the repetitive night drama of trying to put his young daughter to sleep once she awoke from a terrible vision. The poor girl was haunted from those nightmares ever since her very young age and very often he blamed himself for passing such a curse to his innocent Rose. Swallowing the lump on this throat, the Dark One left the maid on the corridor, climbing up the stairs as quickly as he could, going straight to his daughter's chambers.

When he opened the door, Rumple felt his heart breaking into tiny pieces. Belle was crying, walking around the room with Rose sobbing in her arms, her six-month pregnant belly smashed under the little girl’s weight. His wife was visibly shaking, he could see how her legs were weak under the thin fabric of her nightgown, just about to give up and let her fall, her arms here also trembling and he could notice how weak she was as her hand gently rubbed at their daughter’s back.

Rumplestiltskin immediately reached for her, taking Rose from Belle’s arms and leading his wife to the rocking chair, where she finally sat, shedding some tears while the imp started to sing until Rose fell asleep and he tucked her in bed, walking towards the Dark Lady then, kneeling in front of her and squeezing her hands in his with a preoccupied look in his face.

"I wish I could stop it and take those horrible dreams of hers away, but I can’t and it makes me feel so useless and impotent," Belle muttered between some sobs, trying to keep her voice low not to wake Rose again.

"Oh, sweetheart," Rumple mumbled, kissing her knuckles before moving to stroke her belly gently. "Nothing can take Rose's visions away, not even the most powerful magic of all. But I need your suffering to end, because this is no good for you and certainly no good for the baby."

Belle's hand met his above her bump, but her glance was laid on the small bed where their daughter was nestled, flushed cheeks, mouth slightly open in her sleep and hair spread on the pillow.

"She needs me," the Dark Lady whispered.

"She needs her mother to be healthy," the imp corrected, noticing the dark bags under his wife's eyes. "You're not going to attend her during the night anymore. This is a tiresome job and you're exhausting yourself."

Belle shooked her head. He couldn’t just command her to leave their child terrified with no one to calm her down, that was unthinkable and as much as she knew that her husband cared very dearly for her and the new baby she was bearing, Belle couldn’t believe he was suggesting such a thing.

"Rumple, we can't just leave our daughter crying and going through all of this alone! I won't allow it!"

"Mrs. Potts will be with her, full time, whenever she needs from now on," he promised. "You know that in the end, Gideon is the only one that can quickly soothe her, but he also needs sleep, so the maid can do the work and I'll find another caretaker to help with the cleaning."

The lady worried at he lip, still not happy with the solution he had. She could be feeling like her body couldn’t take another sleepless night without suddenly fainting, too weary to keep going, but Belle’s heart ached with only the though of not being able to help Rose anymore.

"I don't want her to be scared of sleeping."

"She is five, Belle," Rumplestiltskin said, standing up and helping her to do the same. "Things will get better with time."

"I do hope. But I'll stay here, just for tonight."

The lady laid by her daughter's side and Rumple brought the chair near to the bed, so he could watch for their sleep.

"Then, I'll stay with you."


	3. Someone New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gideon and Rose prepare a little surprise for their new-born brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For TMI Tuesday question about the Gold's baby number 3, Chip, or just Aiden for now.

It had been years since the Dark Castle had a nursery, but within the last few months one was slowly build up to receive the baby Rumplestiltskin's lady was carrying. She had chosen a soft colour of green for the child's blanket and her husband had made sure the beautiful white furniture was adorned with that colour too, as she seemed to love it, because Belle had a couple of gowns in that same tone and lately she had been wearing one of them as often as she could. Their household was also something that had expanded recently, since the Dark One brought a new maid, a girl called Agathe from the Dark Realm, and dealt for a butler, the kind Mr. Dove.

With Belle more relaxed and the children entertained, Rumplestiltskin could finally have some peace of mind. He had been searching everywhere with every powerful being of all realms if he could find a way to stop Rose's visions, but all of his attempts had proven themselves to be a failure. An as much as stressful this journey was, it got a break when, during a snowy day the babe came. A beautiful healthy boy, with Belle's gorgeous blue eyes and soft pinkish skin. Belle had chosen the name Aiden for him, after Gideon's best friend in the book Her Handsome Hero.

The lady had said the character was a good-hearted person, very kind and wise, although a little bit impulsive in his battles. He was a good example and Rumple really liked the name, because it was simple and easy to pronounce. And as a child of the Dark One, the last thing that little boy needed was another complicated thing in his life, so a good, clean name, felt right.

It was quite difficult this time to handle things around there, because there were other two children who needed attention and weren't much happy to be watched by the maids all the time. It had been two days since Belle gave birth and Rumplestiltskin was pulling the small baby inside his crib, slightly proud of himself for managing to soothe him without having to wake Belle, when he heard the loud screams outside the nursery and Aiden fussed in his arms, immediately starting to squeal again.

He closed his eyes momentarily, taking a deep breath before opening the door to find Gideon and Rose on the floor tickling each other as they guffawed unstoppably.

"Gideon! Rose!” Rumplestiltskin exclaimed, rocking the child in his arms as he furrowed at the other two. “You woke up your brother!"

The kids stopped laughing to look up at their father, Rose sitting up and hitting Gideon’s belly with her elbow which caused him to make a whining sound of pain as she quickly put herself on her feet.

"Sorry papa," the little girl said promptly.

"Yeah, sorry,” Gideon agreed, rising up too, “we were just playing."

Aiden’s cries had stopped and he had curled himself against Rumple’s chest inside the soft blanket, but the imp also worried they could have awaken Belle, and that was the last thing he wanted. She had stayed in labour for many hours and although Mrs. Potts guaranteed him it was perfectly normal and every child had its own time, he still insisted his wife should stay in bed and rest for as long as possible.

He moved himself back inside the nursery to put Aiden down and was followed by the children, which didn’t seem much curious when they first met their new brother, but appeared to be interested in him now.

"Papa, can I hold the babe?" Rose asked in that low, begging tone of hers that made it extremely difficult for him to deny her anything. "Please?"

"Maybe later," the Dark One said, laying the baby on the crib. "He just slept again."

Rose sniffled, climbing up the rocking chair and folding her arms against her chest, some tears starting to gather on her eyes, which made a snort leave the imp. She was a very sensible and stubborn child and that always made things a little bit harder when it came to her.

"I miss mama, I think she doesn't like me anymore," Rose whined. "She doesn't play with me."

Gideon rolled his eyes.

"She just had a babe, your silly girl, she is not supposed to be playing or anything else. Right papa?"

"Aye, my boy, you're right," Rumplestiltkin agreed, however knowing he still needed to do something that would help Rose forget it, he added: "But what do you think if we made a surprise for her?"

The little girl’s brown eyes got wide with excitement and she quickly wiped the corners of it, before jumping off of the chair. A smile stretched in his lips. The good thing about Rose was that she was easily distracted, when offered something new to do.

"I like this," she pronounced herself.

"Well, you two can ask Mrs. Potts’ help to make some gifts for her and the baby, so you can make your little brother feel at home and take a smile from mama at the same time."

"That sounds nice," Gideon nodded, taking his sister’s hand. "Come on, Rosie."

In the next moment, the kids had disappeared down the hallway and Rumple sat beside the crib, knowing it wouldn’t be much longer before Aiden woke up, hungry and moody.

* * *

 

"Rumple, stop it,” Belle said, angrily as she tried to reach for their chamber’s door for what it seemed to be the tenth time that night. She had taken off her nightgown and pulled own a comfortable velvet winter gown, knowing she had already spent too much time locked inside there and urging to be outside, doing anything but sleeping. “I need water, I need food, so I'm getting out of these chambers, either you want to or not."

In consonance with her words, the door swung open and Agathe picked a look inside, one of her eyebrows lifting with curiosity when she realised her master and mistress were having an argument.

"Master, the dinner is served," the maid informed, before turning around and leaving them to their discussion.

"Finally,” Belle grumbled. “Now, get out of my way, Rumplestiltskin."

He allowed her to pass, relieved the children were done with their surprise and he didn’t need to keep her inside anymore, because angry as she was, his wife appeared to be about to explode.

"Belle, wait," he called, following her and realising she was already making her way to the staircase. "Just a moment."

The lady stopped where she was, watching carefully as he entered the nursery and then, came to join her with their new-born son in his arms. Narrowing her brow, she wondered if it was mean to slap her husband when he had just spent the last three days being so kind and perfect with her. No other man would take care of a baby like he did.

"What do you think you’re doing?" She inquired in a harsh tone, but with the voice as low as possible. "We don’t want to wake him!"

"He is still sound asleep, but it's time for us to have a proper family dinner."

"You're definitely out of your mind today," Belle remarked, shaking her head at him and going downstairs.

If he wanted to disturb their son’s sleep because he wanted it was time to have a dinner with everyone else, then he was going to be the one to put him back to sleep too. She laughed to herself at how silly her husband was being, as she entered the dinning hall and saw her children gathered with the whole household in front of her old reading chaise.

"Surprise!"

They went out of the way, allowing her to see that a small table had been set right by it’s side and above it, was placed a brand new white Moses’s basket, decorated with mint-green ribbons and cushion.

"What is all of this?"

"It's for you and Aiden," Gideon told her. "It was papa's idea."

"Oh, it was?"

Belle looked back at her husband and he shrugged, a smirk taking place on his lips as he allowed her to take Aiden from him and walk to were the kids were, placing the child inside the basket.

"Mama, we've made this for the babe," Rose said, cheerfully and adding in a whisper: "Mrs. Potts helped."

"It's beautiful, darling," she smiled, brushing at her daughter’s hair. "I think little Aiden likes it."

The baby’s sleep hadn’t been interrupted after all, and he was nestled inside the gift his siblings gave to him like he had always belonged there.

"Fits perfectly," Rumplestiltskin agreed.


	4. Never Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even after a year, Rumple and Belle still struggle with the loss of their child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've wronged my anon's question, here it is the flicket I should have written first.  
> Keep your asks or prompts coming, they are really welcolme.

I had become a spring tradition for them, to come over Ruby's house and pay their baby's grave a visit. The first time they did was in the next year after the child's death, when Rumple had found Belle staring at the gardens with eyes lost in somewhere he couldn't see, a hand gravitating to her stomach and he understood she was thinking about that interrupted pregnancy, which ended because of his mother. He hadn't noticed the time passing, because the year had been a quite good one; they went on their honeymoon in Camelot, they celebrated Rose's first birthday and had lots of work reorganizing the Dark Realm, so they barely had time to think about all the bad they had been through, although he was pretty sure it was their silent way of protecting their hearts from more pain. There had been moments of course, right after the Black Fairy was killed, that they had those deep conversations in order to heal the broken trust between them, but when they felt confident enough in their relationship it became past. Until that one particular moment, of course.

The grief was clear in Belle's eyes and Rumple left the place where he had been sat, watching Rose toddling around and Gideon follow her while Mrs. Potts settled their picnic down and walked towards his wife, enlacing her waist with his arms and pressing a long, soft kiss to her cheek. Her eyes closed for a brief second as she leaned against his body, sighing deeply, as she covered his hands with her own, rubbing circles on his textured skin.

"Do you ever think there could be three children playing in the garden today?"

Her voice was low, distant like her mind seemed to be, but Rumplestiltskin had to admit she was right. There should have been three children. Three, not two. And because of Fiona, they would never get to know one of them.

"He or she would still be a baby," the imp said, caressing his lady's hair. "There wouldn't be much playing for it yet."

"But it could be in our arms," she breathed.

Belle felt her heart beating fast against her chest, her stomach contracted painfully and cold with the new wave of grief taking her. It was weird, how some pains of the heart affected the body so strongly, and even thought she had been feeling alright again, for quite some time, it took her only the remembrance of that miscarriage to break her again. Rumplestiltskin kissed her shoulder and she could almost feel the small smile that came to his lips when they heard Rose's loud giggle when Gideon pretended to fall.

"What do you think about visiting the grave?" The Dark One suggested. "We could bring some flowers."

"I think..." Belle started, lifting a hand to run in through his hair. "Maybe it would make me feel slightly better. So, the baby will know we didn't forget it."

He nodded and finally found her lips, sliding his tongue inside her mouth in an attempt to make her forget the pain, even if momentarily. But of course, neither of them could stop the grief, they could only be together and rely on one another, because Rumplestiltskin understood Belle's loss, and only she shared the same sadness he did.

* * *

 

He took her to Ruby's place in the very next day, leaving the children home with Mrs. Potts, where they would be safe. They had lunch with the wolf girl and her grandmother, which was something Rumple didn't quite appreciate, but that lighted Belle's eyes a little and it was enough to make anything bearable. So, after they ate, the couple headed to the woods where they found the place where Rumplestiltskin had buried their baby, still marked by that same big rock he had placed there a year ago.

Belle held on tighter at the flowers she had in her hands, watching as her husband made a quick flourish and suddenly a cross appeared in there right behind the rock, a chipped cup just like theirs, notched in the middle of it. The Dark Lady's lips trembled and she kneeled on the ground, placing the flowers in there and feeling her sudden hate for Fiona return, although she knew her mother-in-law was long gone and had already payed for everything she did. Rumple sat by her side, passing an arm around her shoulders and letting her lay head on his chest.

They didn't say anything, only shed some quiet tears, before they decided it was time to go home. Rumplestiltskin pulled himself up and helped the lady rise on her feet, seeing her touch the grave for a second before she allowed him to grab her hand and take them back home with the help of his magic.

Every single ear after that, when the spring arrived, Rumplestiltskin and Belle would go visit the grave of their child, no matter what was happening in their lives, because if one thing was certain was that the Dark One and the Dark Lady loved their children more than anything else and they would never let one of them feel forgotten, if it was already long gone, because after all, family was forever.

**Author's Note:**

> My apologies if there is something wrong with my writing. English is not my first language.


End file.
